Thu Apr 23, 2009
No Teacher Failed by their Administration
NTFA may not have quite the ring to it as NCLB, but as I think about what the real issues are that have historically faced schools and the whole question of student achievement, I'm a bit perplexed that the finger of blame hasn't been pointed at the real culprits behind most "failing" public schools--their administration. Instead, the focus always seems to be on the classroom teacher, and their inability to reach all of their children and improve their standardized test scores. Fair? Accurate? Backed by research and quantitative analysis? Or even common sense?
Not hardly. In fact, if one were to define what a "Highly Qualified Teacher" really is I would argue that they are those teachers who are able to engage and motivate their students despite how their administration runs their school or district and the learning climate that they engender through their actions. Stellar teachers can teach no matter what conditions they're provided by their administration. Average teachers require more support and a school climate that promotes discipline, routine, and that is actively engaged in insuring that its teachers are covering the curriculum as required. Add to that the need to engage parents and the community and provide leadership to the school so that its shared objectives can be met, and its easy to see that school administrators play a crucial and critical role in whether a school, its teachers, and its students are successful. No wonder they demand such high salaries!
But in the debate about the problems with public schools you rarely hear about the role that the administration plays. Instead the focus always lands on the classroom teacher and the unions and on the need for standardized curriculum that will insure students are able to push the correct levers on their standardized tests so that a kibble is dispensed in the form of improved test scores.
Let's take an extreme example--the collapse of inner-city schools that is so often cited as an example of how public schools have failed. Did those schools become run-down and lacking in basic facilities because of teachers? Did those schools fail to attract excellent teachers that demanded high standards from their students because of teacher's unions? Did those schools end up with a climate where the teachers were demoralized because of a lack of standardized curriculum? In fact, is there any evidence that the conditions prevalent in schools that are not meeting the requirements of NCLB are problems that originated with teachers?
Common sense and historical evidence says that the teachers in these so-called failing schools were not the problem, but were in fact as much victims of administrations that failed to do their jobs as the students they attempted to teach. Schools in poor neighborhoods were historically underfunded and were "led" by administrators who were charged with keeping things quiet and under control--not with demanding high standards and creating high-performing school. It's not hard to find a story about schools lacking in basics such as plumbing and functioning lights, or a library that contained enough books to serve their students. Or textbooks. Or enough unbroken desks for every student in a class. Those stories are real, and yet none of those problems are ones that are the responsibility of the classroom teacher.
So as we continue to debate and pontificate and plan new programs that will jerk teachers into line with the new data-driven, standards-based, accountability culture that is becoming prevalent in our schools lets not forget that the success of our teachers and their students relies on an administration that provides the structure and resources they need to achieve. Whether that's the principal who is actually performing their primary role as the instructional leader of the school, or the school district that is charged with maintaining the building and providing the school with the curricular materials required, or the school board member who insures that their constituents are all represented, or the state legislator who doles out funding--all of these individuals play a role in the success of the public education system. It's neither fair or accurate to place all of the blame on teachers when failures occur.
Wed Apr 22, 2009
Arne Duncan and the Disciples of Choice
I'll admit right up front that I don't know squat about Arne Duncan, the new Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration. I've heard others such as my friend Gary Stager rip into Secretary Duncan (and no one rips better than Gary), but with all things political I prefer to make my own judgments on these things. Now after reading some of the quotes from an article in last week's Time Magazine I have to agree with Gary and the others who see this nearly religious belief that public schools are bad, and private, charter schools are good, that Secretary Duncan not only is proposing the wrong kinds of solutions, but that he is woefully out of touch with what the right solutions resemble.
This one passage in particular is terrifically troubling:
Time: Where do you see the charter-school movement going?
I'm a big fan of choice and competition, and in our country, historically, wealthy families have had a lot of options as to where to send their children. And families that didn't come from a lot of money had one option — and usually that option wasn't a good one. The more options available, the more we give parents a chance to figure out what the best learning environment is for their child. To me it's not about letting a thousand flowers bloom...
So, the choice to send your kids to a public school isn't "a good one"? And this from the man who intends to establish federal policy that drives education reforms. How can you proceed from the basic assumption that public schools--arguably one of the most important institutions in our democracy--is fundamentally a bad choice? How can you ignore the millions of students who have received, and continue to receive, high quality education from dedicated teachers in America's public schools? How can you ignore the vibrant economy (assuredly not where we want it to be at the moment) that is the envy of the rest of the world--one populated by graduates of our so-called failing school systems?
Wrong-headed and plain wrong is what I call that. Here's hoping that Secretary Duncan has about as much influence as his predecessor, by which I mean little at all. Because if you work from the assumption that things are horribly broken and public schools are nothing but failures, you're no better than the Bush administration bureaucrats who mouthed the same lies to the American people.
Thu Oct 16, 2008
Good Move Tim Mahoney: Making Your Wife Join You in Your Perp Walk
For the life of me I can't figure out why any self-respecting woman would allow their husband to trot them out in front of the media when hubby has been caught in some dalliance with another woman. I mean, why would they *agree* to that? Long years of having to be subservient to a man with an out of control ego? I can only assume they've been conditioned to do, I don't know, "The Right Thing"?
At any rate, our local congressman is in the news due to an affair that he had with a campaign worker. Bad enough, but not only was he playing around with one woman, he had a second affair going on simultaneously. When Woman A finds out about Woman B she breaks things off, and Mr. Mahoney fires her as a result. That leads to a lawsuit, a $100,000.00 plus payoff, and the ultimate discovery of all of this by ABC News.
Mr. Mahoney's reaction? A press conference where his grief-stricken wife is supposed to sit next to him and show her support despite the "pain and embarrassment" that he's caused his family and a non-apology apology that says something about how his "family has issues like any other."
You know Tim, most families actually don't have issues like this, with one spouse seeking out multiple partners outside their marriage.
And most marriages are built on having enough respect for your spouse that you would protect them from public humiliation like you did with your wife.
So, Tim. All I can say is that when you decided to become a Democrat and run against Mark Foley you must not have paid close attention to the Democratic Party mascot.
It's a donkey Tim. Not an ass.
You however are an ass extraordinaire, and I hope that my neighbors toss that sorry donkey of yours right out of office.
Fri Oct 10, 2008
Sarah Six-Pack and Those Gosh Darn Fat Cats
Palm Beach County Florida, where I make my home, is the ultimate land of the fat cats. It's hard to imagine any greater concentration of wealth than what we have in our county here, so sometimes we have a little different perspective on things. Consider:
Palm Beach is home to old money that has flowed down to the progeny of people with names like Dodge and Ford and Rockefeller and Hutton and has mixed with all sorts of new money, like the Russian fertilizer gazillionaire who just bought a place on the beach from Little Donny Trump for a cool $100 million plus.
Down the coast a ways in Boca Raton we have all sorts of people who would like to live like the people in Palm Beach, but have only clawed their way partway up that ladder. Along with the doctors and lawyers and corporate officers who populate Boca we also have the greatest concentration of scam artists, crooks, and Internet hucksters in the U.S. Hey, look it up.
And then along the coast we have a smattering of people with LOTS of money, but no desire to be quite so gauche about the whole thing. They're happy on Jupiter Island to live quietly in the mega-mansions and to tool about on their sports yachts and spend time at the club. Tony, but refined describes places like Delray Beach, Ocean Ridge and Manalapan.
All of this money makes our county ripe for political fundraisers. And boy do we ever get them.
So it was no surprise when Sarah Palin recently visited for a fundraiser among the faithful down in Boca Raton.
But here's the thing that bugs me about our cute-as-a-button VP candidate. Can you say you're all about the Joe Six Packs and Hockey Moms out there and are absolutely shocked (SHOCKED!) at the behavior of those corporate fat cats and that you're Gonna Make Them Behave Themselves By Golly, while simultaneously patting them on the back and reaching into their wallets? Hmm, I guess the Joe Six-Packs she hangs out with can afford to spend $500.00 each to watch Sarah wink at them. After all, that's only about 60 six-packs to see Sarah. And for the truly devoted, you could also take the $50,000.00 a seat opportunity to attend the more intimate gathering that followed. Yeah, Hockey Moms can drop that kind of coin, no problem Don't Cha Know. And for those who missed it, here are a few quotes from the breathless attendees:
Dozens of starry-eyed Republican faithful and some of South Florida's wealthiest political elite joined Gov. Charlie Crist, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez and other Republican dignitaries in greeting the vice presidential nominee at the exclusive Boca Raton Resort and Club.
"All the heavyweights were there, it was electric," said event participant Yvonne Boice, president of the Boca Raton Republican Club. "I really truly feel she can be classified as the female Ronald Reagan."
"She's a rock star, and tonight she showed it," said Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party.
My buddy Political Agnostic Rick would say "So? You expect a politician to behave differently?"
And you know, I do actually expect to hear a little truthiness from the people who would govern us. And when on the one hand you're trying to convince the average American that you're one of them, and that corporate fat cats ought to be hunted from the air like Alaskan wolves, well, Golly Gee Willikers, I think Sarah said it best herself:
“It comes down to one ticket’s proposal that can be trusted, and another ticket’s proposal to deal with some of these issues and maybe questioning the truthfulness and the intention there. I think it’s very relevant there.”
Yeah Button. I'm down with you on that one girl. Give us a wink won't you?
Tue Sep 30, 2008
Bailout Blunder? Or Democracy in Action?
Our nation is in some deep financial doo-doo, and regardless of your politics you've got to be worried. Especially, if like me, your mortgage holder has gone belly up and you've been juggling finances with increases in gas and food and insurance and interest rates and on and on. This isn't a good time to be in debt for many Americans.
So excuse me if I don't buy the line from our political leaders that we needed to bail out Wall Street right now! Today! As if we as a nation had wandered into a car dealership and the Secretary of the Treasury was going to talk to his sales manager to get you the deal you want today! Otherwise it could be calamitous! Across party lines and from top to bottom we heard the same thing over and over. We need this right now! Never mind the $3,500.00 we're going to want from each of you! Quick! Decide now!
And you know, I'm glad for all of those independent thinkers from both Red and Blue states who voted no. Here's what I hope they're saying to Bush, McCain and Obama and all the others who are pushing the bailout as our only hope:
"Hey wait a minute. Our constituents are dead-set against this without some guarantees. If they're going to give up $3,500 (each, mind you) we'd darn well better be able to explain how they get their money back.
Does it flow to us in better health care, better wages, reduced taxes somewhere down the road?
Are we ever going to see this money again or are we as taxpayers simply being asked to pony up the cash for the good of the nation? As one big collective smack on the forehead that we have to swallow as a lesson learned the hard way?
And if we have learned our lesson what is it? More regulation of financial industries? More regulation of the Federal Reserve so we don't have these gargantuan peaks and valleys?
Is anyone going to jail over this? Or do they get to hold on to their Palm Beach mansions and vacation homes?
Oh, and by the way, a lot of my constituents plain don't believe a thing you say after lying to them about weapons of mass destruction that you used to pressure us into a calamitous war. Yeah, both parties."
That's what I want to know. And until those kinds of questions are answered it's right and proper that we as the American people speak up to our representatives no matter what party they're in.
'Cause, really. We all ought to be mad as hell over this one.
The question then becomes, are we going to take it any more?
Wed Jan 30, 2008
How to Disenfranchise 1.6 Million Voters in Florida
I was one of the 1.6 million voters in the Democratic primary yesterday, but this being Florida, I shouldn't be surprised that my vote won't count.
Now how did that happen?
Again?
It's a long and twisted tale, with a moral that ought to be abundantly clear, especially to Democrats.
Back room deals and slaps on the back with the opposition party, especially when they hold a majority in both houses of the state legislature, isn't going to get anything but the same old results. Face it.
The Democratic party "leaders" in Florida were snookered on a massive scale and out-manuevered by the Republicans when an election date was set that was clearly in violation of national party rules. And despite the pathetic explanation found on the Make It Count Florida! website, published by the party and chock-a-block full of promises and hyperbole that our votes will count, the party's own explanation runs something like this:
**Those bad, bad Republicans shoved this bill down our throats and there was nothing we could do. Oh, we wrung our hands and were very upset. But we weren't smart enough or tough enough to derail their plans for a primary earlier than "Super Tuesday."
**The national party kept telling us that this was serious business and that the delegates from the state would not be seated at the convention if the election was held early.
**We didn't think they meant it.
**They did.
**As a result, Florida won't get any delegates for the national convention that can vote on the party nominee. No one will represent the vote I or any of the other 1.6 million Democrats in Florida cast when votes are taken on who should be nominated to represent Democrats. Period.
**The state party tells us that after the nominee is selected they expect to get our delegates seated and be able to vote. But only for the nominee already chosen by voters in other states. So, we do get to vote, but only after the winner is selected.
Gosh. When they explain it like that you just have to be filled with....
Oh I don't know. Disgust? Repulsion? An overwhelming feeling that the same people who tell us that they don't want politics as usual don't really, really know how to do things any other way?
Maybe you get a sudden urge to run out and start a new party of your own, or join up with like-minded people and find some way to get representation.
Because clearly the Democratic party leadership in Florida has failed at its most fundamental task of
seeing to it that the members of their party are represented.
And if they can't do that, why have the party at all?
(Thanks to Gary Stager for getting my back up on this topic again.)
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